Customer Reviews

Women And Children First: Feminism, Rhetoric, And Public Policy (Suny Series in Gender Theory)

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I am not going to review my own books (but this format requires the assignment of stars), but I thought that it might be helpful for readers to learn more about the book. Here are the public relations materials from SUNY Press:

A critique of public policy rhetoric from multiple feminist perspectives.

This diverse collection explores the rhetoric of a wide range of public policies that propose "to put women and children first," including homeland security, school violence, gun control, medical intervention of intersex infants, and policies that aim to distinguish "good" from "bad" mothers. Using various feminist philosophical analyses, the contributors uncover a logic of paternalistic treatment of women and children that purports to protect them but almost always also disempowers them and sometimes harms them. This logic is widespread in contemporary popular policy discourse and affects the way that people understand and respond to social and political issues. Contributors rethink basic philosophical assumptions concerning subjectivity, difference, and dualistic logic in order to read the rhetoric of contemporary public policy discourse and develop new ways of talking and acting in the policy domain.

"It is indeed important, as the editors claim, that social philosophers join the fray as public intellectuals, participating in policy discussions and recommending policy changes. This book does a nice job conveying that `politics matter,' and feminist ethicists and political philosophers will turn to it to receive guidance. Many of us will no doubt use it in our courses because the controversial topics covered will make for great classroom discussion." - Mechthild Nagel, coeditor of Race, Class, and Community Identity

"This volume offers a highly interesting and provocative look at the complex, often contradictory, relationship of women and public policy. The essays, including an excellent introduction by the editors, reveal the dilemmas inherent in past feminist approaches to this topic and suggest new ways to approach it. Particularly valuable is the book's discussion of `security' in the post-9/11 world, as an element that now enters such debates." - Carole E. Joffe, University of California at Davis

Contributors include Norma L. Buydens, Sonya Charles, Patrice DiQuinzio, Ellen K. Feder, Kirsten Isgro, Tina Managhan, Sharon M. Meagher, Kelly Oliver, Elizabeth F. Randol, Jennifer A. Reich, Sally J. Scholz, and Tricha Shivas.